George Minter

George Minter of SoCalGas on how hydrogen could help California get to zero emissions.

The Coalition for Clean Air’s Port and Freight Solutions Symposium in October brought together over 100 port experts, environmental advocates, and government agencies concerned with improving air quality and efficiency through reducing greenhouse-gas emissions at the Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles. Here, VX News presents edited excerpts from a number of panels that took place at the conference. Featured speakers include: California Air Resources Board Commissioner Hector De La Torre, Port of Long Beach Director of Environmental Planning Rick Cameron, ILWU’s Peter Peyton, and SoCalGas Director of Policy and Environment George Minter. These selections highlight promising new technology that could dramatically reduce truck emissions, as well as new initiatives underway at the ports.

As California seeks to meet greenhouse-gas emissions reduction goals set out by AB32, utilities are grappling with the intermittence of renewable resources like solar and wind. George Minter, Senior Director of Policy and Environment at the Southern California Gas Company, works on SoCalGas’s electrolysis commercialization and expansion program, which aims to address this challenge. In the following interview with VerdeXchange News, Minter discusses power-to-gas—how it works, precedents for its use in the European Union, and its potential as a solution to excess power on the grid. Minter also discusses natural gas’ impact on transportation, the “hydrogen highway,” and efforts to decarbonize the pipeline—lowering the carbon content of California’s natural gas supply.